


botanic

by Wahmenitu



Category: Daredevil (TV), Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief, Matt POV, Paying Respects, new york appreciating spiderman too late, sad stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:13:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24980617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wahmenitu/pseuds/Wahmenitu
Summary: Matt had a lot on his mind. Enough to the point that he didn't realize what was waiting on his perch until it crunched beneath his boots.He paused, head cocked as he took a step back.The smell hit him, then.
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Peter Parker & Wade Wilson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 182





	botanic

**Author's Note:**

> had this idea a week or so ago and am finally writing it. i can only apologize to the Team Red discord.
> 
> this doesn't necessarily belong in the dimensions verse, it's just kind of an expansion.

Matt couldn't remember a time after the accident when he felt well rested.

The new senses had been overwhelming. There were new noises to compete with, things he'd never heard before, and things that were loud before now rang into his very skull. Clanging around until he was screaming with it and his dad was leaning over him, bringing Matt's hands to his face.

Then, there were the foster homes, and there was the orphanage. There were so many voices there, competing for attention, for parents. Matt kept to the pews and wormed his way up into the attic. The farther he got, the quieter it would be, right?

College was a different kind of tired, but there was camaraderie in it.

Late nights were spent with Foggy or Marci, or any number of their study group. Energy drinks were passed around, strange snacks invented to fuel them further. Columbia was worse, but again better, because through it all there was Foggy, always in step beside him, like the beat of a steady drum better than the thud of Matthew's own heart.

Later, Matt would tell him that it was because Foggy _was_ his heart, and Peter would coo and Wade would laugh and ask when the wedding was.

Now, Matt could only regret that he hadn't gotten his shit together more quickly. Foggy was there, always, but now Peter wasn't, and the tiredness, the exhaustion, was something bone deep Matt had never felt before.

The morning of the funeral, his limbs felt heavy. The effort of lifting his head from the pillow was insurmountable. It may have stayed that way, if not for the warm palm against his back, Foggy's whispered promise of coffee waiting for him, baby, if he could just get up. There was no instruction there, no command. Only the reassurance that Foggy would walk this with him, too, just like everything else. Foggy was hurting, too. Peter had been a friend to both of them.

And it wasn't just Foggy that needed Matt today.

Wade wouldn't admit it on pain of twenty deaths, but Matt couldn't leave him alone today. Peter was dead and they had a job to do and people to protect.

Foggy was waiting for him in the kitchen.

Wade was waiting for him on a roof.

So Matt got up.

The funeral was nice, he guessed.

He could hear the others in the crowd, who'd really known Peter. The rasp of hands when Clint and Natasha held fast to each other, the creak of metal of Bucky Barnes' arm.

Tony Stark was somewhere down there, the arc reactor a low hum that cut through the shift of bodies. Matt didn't like Tony Stark on a good day, but it was a noise to focus on. Something to keep him grounded while Foggy was in the crowd below somewhere.

When it was over, Wade turned to him. Matt expected him to lay out shifts for the both of them, but Wade's hot hand on his bicep stopped any consideration.

"Listen, Red," he began, unusually serious. "I got my people watching his wife and aunt for a couple of days. Stay home, okay? I'll walk through the Kitchen."

And it was so strange, so out of character for Wade that Matt made a noise of protest.

"Shit's going on, stuff beyond us, okay? Stay home with Nelson until it's over."

It was a reason, at least.

A reason for Matt to say okay. A reason for him to remove his mask and pull a big jacket on and tuck his hand into Foggy's arm in the crowd. A reason to not feel guilty for letting Foggy guide him home and get him settled on the couch.

He wasn't sure whether it was true or not. If Wade really thought something beyond them was going on, or if he just wanted to let Matt grieve. Matt trusted Wade, though, so when Foggy came over with a blanket and a movie queued up, he let it go.

Wade gave him the all-clear three days later, and Matt was ready to get to work.

He'd been restless, and as far as Foggy's patience extended, Matt could tell even he was running out of things to put in front of Matt.

He'd even set him loose in Karen's mess of an office to keep him occupied for a few hours.

The resulting shriek when Karen found him in her not-legally-acquired documents had had the next door neighbors knocking and asking if everything was all right.

It was a relief to put the suit back on, to get back on the streets, but he was still distracted. They had all of Queens to cover now, too, not to mention keeping tabs on Peter's old enemies. Fisk was in prison, but there was still Green Goblin and the Rhino.

The names on some of these people...

There was May to keep an eye on, there was MJ to keep safe.

Peter had plenty of friends, but he'd had plenty of enemies, too.

Matt had a lot on his mind. Enough to the point that he didn't realize what was waiting on his perch until it crunched beneath his boots.

He paused, head cocked as he took a step back.

The smell hit him, then.

_Roseslilliescarnationsdaffodils-_

There were so many _flowers_.

He knelt slowly, tracing calloused fingers over the petals.

Why were they here, though?

Weird place to put flowers.

"They're for him."

His head jerked downwards. Someone was standing there, wrapped in a thick jacket. Tall heels that clicked against the pavement as they stepped forwards. There was a whisper of long hair that fluttered with the winter wind.

"People have been leaving them all week. For him, for you. We know you worked with him. We know Deadpool worked with him. He was your friend, wasn't he?"

Matt swallowed.

There was a knife in his throat, he was sure of it.

He felt bile on the back of his tongue.

He swallowed again.

"He was my friend," he confirmed, his voice hoarse in a way it hadn't been since Elektra.

"We left them for the big guy, too. Give him our best, will you?"

Wade had gotten flowers, too, then.

The person was stepping back now, a hand coming up to brush hair back from their face. "We're sorry about Spidey."

And then they were walking away.

Matt's knees hit the stone first.

He was going to be sick.

He was going to cry.

There were cards, stuffed animals.

And there were _so many_ flowers.

Matt had so much to do, so many people to check up on.

He was so tired.

Matt pressed his forehead to his folded hands, and he started to pray.

**Author's Note:**

> srry friends.
> 
> please leave a comment
> 
> wahmenitu.tumblr.com


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